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In the opening T20I of the , the home team put on a dominant display at Willowmoore Park. The Proteas W꧑omen were all over the Islanders as they registered a victory byꦑ 79 runs.
Laura Wolvaardt gains attention with a stunning century
Winning the toss, Sri Lanka Women elected to bowl first, aiming to restrict the hosts’ batting lineup. However, South Africa Women’s innings started with a bang as their top-order batswomen displayed remarkable prowess with the bat.
Captain starred with an exceptional century, scoring 102 runs off just 63 deliveries, including 12 fours and 3 sixes, laying a solid foundation for her team. She was well-supported by the veteran all-rounder Marizanne Kapp, who contributed a blazing 60 off 40 balls, and Tazmin Brits, who adꦆded a quickfire 15 off 8 balls. The South African innings culminated at an imposing total of 198/5 in their allotted 20 overs.
Disciplined bowling keep Sri Lanka batters at bay
In response, Sri Lanka Women faced a daunting chase. Despite efforts from Harshitha Samarawickrama, who scored 38 off 33 balls, and Hasini Perera, who contributed 30 off 18 balls, the visiting t𒀰eam struggled to keep up with the required run rate.
The South African bowlers put up a disciplined performance, with Tumi Sekhukhune and Annerie Dercksen leꦫading the attack, claiming two wickets each. Sri Lanka Women were eventually bundled out for 119 runs in 18.2ಞ overs, .
For her outstanding century, Wolvaardt was deservedly awarded the Player of the Match. With this commanding victory, South Africa Women have taken a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20I series, setting the stage for an exciting🦩 contest in the matches to come.
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Here is how Twitter reacted:
PROTEAS WOMEN TAKE THE LEAD 🇿🇦
Laura Wolvaardt's 💯 inspired the Proteas Women to a scintillating victory over Sri Lanka in Benoni 🏏
What did you make of the performance? 😅💭
— Proteas Women (@ProteasWomenCSA)
Laura W💎olvaardt with an amazing hundred. Amazing to watch. 100 from 61 balls.
— Damian Heinz (@DamianHeinz)
Not the start we wan🧸ted in the 1st T20I! South Africa Women take the first game by 79 runs.
— Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 (@OfficialSLC)
W🐻ho taught Laura Wolvaardt how to bat? Yases what an innings, a hundre♛d in a T20 game! She deserved back shots after the game 😌🙂🔥🔥🔥
— Andile Manong (@Beeds822)
Players to Score a Centuryܫ as a Captain in both WODIs & WT20Is
– Meg Lanning 🇦🇺
– Suzie Bates🇳🇿
– Chamari Athapaththu 🇱🇰
– Sophie Devine 🇳🇿
– Heather Knight 🏴
– Harmanpreet Kaur 🇮🇳
– Hayley Matthews 🏝
– LAURA WOLVAARDT 🇿🇦— Kishan Kishor (@itskishankishor)
Player of the match: Laura Wolvaardt 🏏
— WomenCricket.com (@WomenCricketHQ)
Highest Score as Captain against🐲 each team in Women’s T20I :
v 🏴 – Meg Lanning (133*)
v 🇦🇺 – Hayley Matthews (132)
v 🇮🇪 – Lanning (126)
v 🇿🇦 – Suzie Bates (124*)
v 🇹🇭 – Heather Knight (108*)
v 🇳🇿 – Harmanpreet Kaur (103)
v 🇱🇰 – LAURA WOLVAARDT (102)*(1/2) |
— Krish (@LuciferStan07)
Still early days but Laura Wolvaardt h🧸as quite enjoyed capt💫aincy so far
Among Full Member captains who have batted in at least 10 🧸T20Is, her average of 59.25 is comfortably the best
Next best is Meg Lanning with 42.24
— Mohit Shah (@mohit_shah17)
Laura Wolvaardt's first WT20I century helps the to a huge victory in Benoni 🇿🇦🌟 | |
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV)
A fantastic hundred ⛄ some serious shots playe🐬d
— Ekkers (@ekkers_sa)
What an innings 👏👏👏
— Sandesh (@sandymys)
Wonderful innings by Laura Wolvaardt today…
She was 54 in 44 balls I think and then reached to hundred in 61 balls with unsurprisingly…a Cover Drive!
— Abhishek AB (@ABsay_ek)
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This article was first published at , a Cricket Times company.